


True Colors

by JamieB93



Series: Blood Feud [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Relationships, Childhood Trauma, Except Tony, F/M, Harley Keener & Harry Osborn & Peter Parker are siblings, Harley Keener & Peter Parker are Siblings, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley Keener is a Good Bro, Jealous Harry Osborn, Kid Harley Keener, Kid Harry Osborn, Kid Peter Parker, Mary Parker wants to be a good Mom so bad, Mentioned Skip Westcott, Murder, Norman Osborn Being a Jerk, Norman Osborn's A+ parenting, Past Rape/Non-con, Peter Parker Angst, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Peter Parker is a Mess, Protective Harley Keener, Protective Harry Osborn, Protective Peter Parker, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Trauma, adults suck in general #here, backstory of a rapist, but it makes you understand why they happened, but she kinda sucks ngl, gratuitous use of cyndi lauper songs, sad things have happened to him, that doesn't excuse his actions, this one's brutal, we stan tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:54:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieB93/pseuds/JamieB93
Summary: Mary looks at Peter and doesn't see what she used to see. Gone is the light in his eyes. His kindness remains but it's different. Her son is slipping away from her more and more by the day and she doesn't understand why.She's not been the world's best mother, she knows that, but she is determined to do right by her baby this time.[Part Seven of a planned series called Blood Feud]
Relationships: Ben Parker & Peter Parker, Ben Parker/May Parker (Spider-Man), Harley Keener & Harry Osborn, Harley Keener & Harry Osborn & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Mary Parker, Harley Keener & Norman Osborn, Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harry Osborn & Mary Parker, Harry Osborn & Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn & Peter Parker, Mary Parker & May Parker (Spider-Man), Mary Parker & Peter Parker, Mary Parker/Richard Parker, May Parker & Peter Parker, Norman Osborn & Peter Parker, Norman Osborn/Mary Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Blood Feud [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709539
Comments: 32
Kudos: 119





	True Colors

**Author's Note:**

> heyy so this one "only" clocked in at 18.9k word so yay!!!!!!!!!!!! still took it out of me to write it out though, phew
> 
> HUGE disclaimer: Rape and sexual abuse are mentioned frequently throughout this chapter so please be aware of that. Also there is some backstory given to Skip in places here and it is NOT meant to make you feel sorry for him or excuse his actions but rather to make you understand just how and why a monster like that was able to disguise himself for so long. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy Mary's chapter!

**Blood Feud** : The Gathering Storm.

Part Seven: True Colors.

_Tuesday, 4th July 1989, Westcott Family Beach Home, Florida._

Well, July the 4th at Steven Westcott’s families swish Florida beach home had not been where Mary Holland had expected to be spending her patriotic holiday. As she held a red solo cup of beer in one hand and a barely put together sparkler in the other, Mary found herself distracted by the sight of Richard Parker and Delta Thomas making out hard down by the sea front, her hand cupping his ass as he ran his long fingers through her curly black hair. Mary sat herself down on the sand and registered her disgust at her friends display by blithely throwing a clump of sand in their direction. 

“Someone’s jealous” May Reilly smirked as she sat down next to her best friend, “Aww, our little Ricky. All grown up.”

“I mean, why?” Mary snapped, “Why her? He could do so much better.”

“Like you?” May asked.

“No. Not me.” Mary sighed, wondering just how many times she and her roommate for the foreseeable future would have to have this exact same conversation, “I’m his protective big sister, I just think he deserves better than someone that casually slutty.”

“Whatever you say” May replied in that annoying know-it-all sing-song tone of voice that became her whenever she was sure she was in the right. Which was a lot. “I know I didn’t fly all the way down here to watch you be all grossed out by Richard Parker getting his mack on, I came to poke fun at Westcott’s dopey beach house, so can we please go do that?”

Mary smiled as her best friend helped her to her feet and interlocked their arms together as they walked back into the house. Mary wasn’t sure what her freshman year of college would have been like had she not scored a win early on by landing the effervescent, passionate, and charismatic May Reilly as her roommate. May had made what could have easily been a lonely and fish-out-of-water experience for Mary effortlessly fun and full of wonderful memories already, and Mary could not wait for the next few years now May was in her life. Even if she did have a tendency to need bailing out following protest arrests and used her psychology degree to analyze every little move people made, purely for her own amusement. 

“I’m sure if you just told Richard how you feel about him, he’d be yours in a second” May carried on as they walked back into the house.

“I don’t have a crush on him!” Mary exclaimed before sighing as May detached their arm and gave her a knowing look, “OK, fine, maybe I have a slight crush on him but I’m certainly not going to do anything about it. It’ll just make things way too complicated, I’d rather have him a friend for years than risk throwing it all away on a relationship that might not even work out.”

May looked satisfied. 

“The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one” May said with a wink, “And Rich is ridiculously cute, no one blames you. You’re not the only one with a crush, evidently Delta Thomas feels the same.”

“I did mean it when I called her casually slutty” Mary warned her friend, “I know that probably doesn’t sit well with you and your women’s lib crap but I mean it, May.”

“I choose to see it more as a statement of fact” May smirked as they made their way over to the table to grab some more drunks. Steven was apparently a big fan of the new Eurodance music scene as that was all that was playing, pulsing away unforgivably loudly as the girls made their way over, “It only becomes a problem if you make a judgement call on it. I’d love to be casually slutty.”

“Hm, maybe you should start shaving your armpits?” Mary suggested.

“Any man that is too scared of a woman’s body hair doesn’t deserve me” May replied as she poured herself a drink and then downed in it once, “Christ, I wish I was a lesbian.”

Mary chuckled and looked around the room. She recognized almost everyone, most of their freshman class had actually bothered to make the journey all the way down to Florida in order to attend the party. Mary knew why. Steven Westcott was probably the most popular and sought-after guy in their class, boasting a magnetic personality and movie-star good-looks that hade me people gravitate towards him in droves at the start of the year and not leave hi side since. Mary wasn’t quite like that. 

Steven was nice enough but she found him to be quite arrogant. It was frustrating that he was probably the smartest kid in the class, he’d have to be to have done as much partying as Steven had done over the past year and still be Top 10 in the class. He seemed to be very well aware of this as well, inviting everyone to a party in Florida cocksure that everyone would scramble to be there. And they had done. Hell, Mary had done, and they’d maybe shared three conversations over the space of the year they’d known one another. 

Mary looked around the party and saw the man himself gathered with some of his friends whom she did not recognize, she could only guess they were friends from back home. Norman Osborne was seated in the corner armchair looking utterly out of place, and Mary couldn’t really blame him. Norman had a reputation for skipping out on parties but Steven must have worn him down with this one, having decided to adopt Norman as his friend about halfway through the year. 

“Hey, Mary!” Richard Parker called from the other side of the room, lips decidedly no longer glued to Delta Thomas’s, “Do you still need a ride back to the motel with me or do you think you can make your own way there?”

“Flaking early, Parker?” May asked as she caught up with Mary who had stumbled forward almost embarrassingly quickly when Richard had called her name. 

“Well, I am leaving the party” Richard said, “But I wouldn’t call it flaking, exactly.”

He turned around and gestured to Delta Thomas who was waiting somewhat impatiently by the door with her arms folded. Mary felt her mood sour as what Richard was really ducking out of the party early for finally dawned on her. 

“So, what?” May, who had seemingly come to the same conclusion, snapped, “You’re gonna leave your two female friends drunk and vulnerable at a party to walk back to a skeevy motel alone, in the dark, in an unfamiliar state with no idea where they’re going just so you can head back earlier and get your end away with casually slutty Delta Thomas.”

“Well, no, I-“

“Go, Richard” Mary sighed, “We’ll be fine. We’ll hitch a lift with someone else. Norman Osborne is here, not drinking and has a car, I’m sure we could persuade him to give us a lift back to the motel when it’s time to leave. Or we could just stay here-you’d better go Richard; Delta is looking daggers at May and me.”

Richard turned around once again and Delta’s smile immediately returned causing both women to roll their eyes. 

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, go and get your rocks off or whatever” Mary told him, “It was about time you lost your virginity anyway.”

“I’m not a-“

“Sure, you’re not big boy” May teased him, “Now, does your big sister need to give you the talk before you leave, you do have condoms right?”

“Leaving!” Richard announced before walking away. He paced back over to Delta and put an arm around her shoulder as he led her out of the party and out of Mary’s eye-line. She sighed, eyes on the door, head full of regrets, but was quickly brought back down to reality by May hitting her across the head.

“Ouch! What was that for?!” she demanded.

“Why did you let him go?” May barked, “Honestly, you just admit you like the guy and now you go off and let him have sex with another woman?”

“You know, this isn’t very women’s lib of you” Mary reminded her best friend. 

“You’re right” she sighed, “But now I have to sit through years of watching you pine over some man you’re too good for.”

“It’s a crush, May” Mary reminded her, “No one’s in love here. It’s purely physical. I’ll probably be over him the second we re-enter one another’s worlds tomorrow morning after he’s been defiled by Delta Thomas.”

“And here I was getting my bridesmaids dress at the ready” May shot back.

“As if you’d ever” Mary rolled her eyes, “Marriage is an outdated, patriarchal, oppressive construction designed to keep women under men’s thumbs, remember?”

“For me, it is” May replied with a smile, “I’m not going to force that point of view on other women, that would be wrong. If some airheaded blonde wants to wear a pretty dress and marry some trust fund douchebag, I’m not going to stand in her way.”

“OK, first of all, that’s clearly a thinly veiled allegory for me and Richard” Mary shot back at her friend, who smiled devilishly, “And need I remind you; Richard is a scholarship kid and my hair isn’t blonde it’s simply very, exceptionally some might argue, light brown?”

“Well, it was a thinly veiled allegory” May smirked, “But with Richard in the role of the dumb blonde and Delta in the role of trust fund douchebag, but good to know where you’re at in your mind, Holland.”

Mary scowled as May laughed and headed towards the bathroom.

“Bitch!” she called after her friend.

“That’s a term of endearment as far as I’m concerned!” May called back. 

An hour later, and Mary was pretty drunk. She was determined not to think about what Richard was getting up to back at the motel down the road with Delta Thomas which meant all she had thought about was what Richard was getting up to with Delta Thomas at the motel down the road. So, she drank. Booze numbed the pain. Was she in love with Richard? They’d clicked pretty instantly, had a lot in common, and he was definitely her second-best friend after May. There was no denying he was drop-dead gorgeous too and she really admired and appreciated how he’d worked himself up from truly little and earned his spot at Harvard. And he’d finished sixth highest in the class overall for the first year. Higher than her. Higher than Steven. Only two places below Norman Osborne

But did that equate to love? Was she not just listing and appreciating his virtuous traits in the same way she did with May and her other friends? Her heart didn’t exactly skip a beat when he walked into the room and as attractive as she knew Richard was, she never really fantasized about him like that. Hell, she’d had more fantasies about Steven Westcott than she had Richard and she knew for damn sure she wasn’t in love with him. But at the same time, she couldn’t deny that the idea of Richard being with someone else kind of bothered her and it wasn’t even that she hated Delta. They didn’t get on. They’d never be friends but it wasn’t an issue of Mary having a problem because Delta was an awful human being who was corrupting her friend. It was deeper than that. She was jealous. 

May had struck up a conversation with Norman Osborne, who seemed almost glad he had someone to talk to, Mary was surprised that he and May were seemingly hitting it off. She was aware that May had likely only started the conversation as a pre-emptive strike before asking for the inevitable lift back to the motel but for the most part the two of them seemed to be enjoying their conversation. Mary, meanwhile, swayed to herself on Steven’s bedroom balcony and Tears For Fears played in the background. 

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World, we should make that our class motto” Steven Westcott’s droll, low voice rang out behind Mary. She yelped as he smirked and came to join her as she looked out over his private beach, “Never met a collection of more ruthlessly ambitious people who would stab anyone they cared about in the back for a chance for a leg up.”

“Cynical” Mary snorted, “Wasn’t an attribute I’d assigned to you.”

“Oh, so you’re the person who assigns attributes, are you?” Steven asked with a cheeky smile on his face, “May I ask why you gave my father the attribute of being a cold and emotionally distant substance abuser who leaves his 19-year old son alone for the summer with nothing but an empty beach house and a few credit cards?”

If she’d been more sober, Mary probably would have reflected on the rather subdued tone in Steven’s voice, and the sad nature of his confession.

As it was, however, she was drunk and happy to play-a-long.

“Because I gave you the attributes of being rich, charismatic, smart and attractive” she shot back, “I can’t give with both hands, emotional damage seemed only a small price to pay for your other comforts.”

Steven smiled and laughed bitterly.

“You think I’m handsome, then?” he asked.

“In a default way” she shrugged, “Everyone thinks you’re handsome because you’re handsome, the real question is, do I find you attractive?”

“And do you?” he asked.

“Yes” she admitted, pursing her lips, and honestly wondering whether it was worth fooling around a little with him to prove something to Richard. It wasn’t. “But I’m not gonna fuck you because you probably have crabs.”

Steven laughed again but seemed brighter this time.

“We should take this to the beach” he said, “Much easier to talk there. Less shouting as well.”

Mary nodded and allowed her hand to fall into his. Steven led her through his house, picking up a bottle of champagne from the kitchen as they maneuvered through, Mary looked over her shoulder and saw May and Norman were still engrossed in their chat and was satisfied she could leave her friend safe and sound with him. Steven smirked as he led Mary back down to the banks and on to the private stretch of beach that his family owned. They sat themselves down on the sand and Steve popped the champagne bottle, before taking a swig and passing it to Mary. 

“I saw the way you looked earlier” he told her, “When Parker left with Thomas and I just want to say that I think you can do so much better than him.”

“What? Like you?” she shot back.

“Me?” he repeated, “Oh, heavens know. I’m well below Parker. I’m the last person anyone should be setting their sights on. I didn’t mean it as a slight against Parker, really, just you kind of seem like you’re too good for anyone. Which is saying a lot cos we’re at Harvard.”

“Blue blood will out” Mary smirked, “But man, you gotta stop saying nice things to me or I really will fuck you here in the sand.”

“No, you won’t” Skip said reasonably, “You and me….we’re not meant to be like that.”

“And how would you know?” she asked.

“You assign attributes, I assign who fucks who” Steven shrugged as he pulled a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket, “And I have decided that you and I….we’re just not meant to fuck one another. Just how it goes.”

“Reason?” she asked, “Y’know….out of interest”

“We’re too hot, for one thing” he smirked, “People who posses our level of beauty are meant to pity the less beautiful. Sharing would be selfish. But more than that, I think the potential of us being good friends is far too valuable to sacrifice on sex.”

“Friends? Us?” she replied incredulously, “Steven, you’re genuinely nice, but we’ve barely ever said more than four words to one another. What makes you think that we can be friends?”

“I dunno, intense loneliness” he joked, “No, seriously, I’ve sat back and watched you express yourself all year. The way you are around people, how they flock to you, how kind you are without expecting anything in return. All fine qualities in a friend and fuck knows I could so with some more.”

“Steven, there’s a whole house full of your friends behind us” she chuckled, “I think you’re doing just fine.”

“They’re not real, though” he sighed, “They’re here to say they came. Like I know you are. I have one friend. One real friend I know that I can count on, y’know who that is?”

“Yourself?”

“What? No, of course not. I’m garbage. I was talking about Norman.”

“Oh.”

“A whole year and I’ve made one friend” Steven sighed, “And I love him but he’s not exactly the talkative or warm type.”

That was true, Mary supposed. General opinion on Norman Osborne amongst their classmates seemed to be that he was a complete enigma, having barely spoken to anyone but Steven over the course of the last year and only answered questions from their professor when he was specifically called upon. Mary was sure he’d actually only spoken to her once when they’d accidentally collided in the canteen and he’d spilled his drink down her top. From that one interaction, Mary had got the impression that Norman was somewhat shy and awkward as he mumbled a quick apology before scurrying off.

“Ahh, the classic tale of the sad lonely rich boy” Mary smirked, “How long is it till you spend a night roaming around New York City blaming the world for your problems. Catching as much rye as you can.”

“Funny” Steven said bitterly, “Look, I’m serious and I’m only partly saying this because I’m drunk, but you’re….cool, I’d like it if we could be better friends next year. That’s all.”

Mary looked at him in the eyes for a second and was surprised by just how much sincerity she saw there. He meant this. He was lonely, perhaps desperately so if he was begging girls he’d barely spoken to over the course of the year to be his friend. And she had to admit that seeing him like this did make her pity him a bit, but that didn’t mean that was what a potential friendship between them had to be based on. There were lots of reasons to like Steven Westcott.

“Fine, dork. We can be friends” she sighed and giggled as he whooped and got to his feet, doing an effortless cartwheel in the sand and Mary definitely did not sneak a look at his toned torso as his shirt rode up a little as he did so.

“You won’t regret this” he said cheerfully, “We’ll be like the most awesome friends, ever. I like Madonna, you know. Like we could hit up her tour in the new year? I know a guy.”

“Whatever, idiot” she said with an irrepressible smile on her face as he sat back down next to her and took another swig of champagne. They stared there for hours, just talking. About everything. Childhood. School. First loves. First times. Favorite movies. She told him that her father had walked out on her and her mother when she was a young girl and had never been found. How he could be dead for all she knew. He cried as he confided in her that his babysitter had molested him when he was 12, something he was determined to overcome but could never quite seem able to. They ended the night with Steven’s head resting on her shoulder, a deep bond formed. 

May had come to find her just after midnight and announced that Norman had agreed to give them a lift back to the motel, but Mary had already made the decision not to leave Steven alone so told May to go on without her. She didn’t know how but one look from May suggested that her best friend perfectly understood the situation, perhaps because for the first time Steven had not jumped to his feet and enthusiastically flirted with her. The two best friends shared a knowing nod before going their separate ways. 

It was daylight by the time Mary and Steven returned to his bedroom. She knew that there was no point in her going to bed now, she was due to start driving back to New York with Richard and May in less than one hour. 

“Thank you for last night” Steven said as he climbed into bed whilst Mary stood watching him from his bedroom door, “I…err, didn’t meant to get as much off my chest as I did but thanks for listening to it all. You’re an exceedingly kind person.”

“It’s what any decent person would do” she told him, “But thank you, it was…well, I won’t say nice, but refreshing to see that side to you. You’ll be OK, Steven. And I won’t say anything to anyone about what you told me; I promise.”

“Thank you” Steven yawned as his head hit the pillow and he was asleep within seconds. Mary crossed the room and slowly kissed him on the forehead before writing down her home phone number and address on a nearby notepad and leaving it on his bedside table. There was no way they would be going back to merely being acquaintances after last night. 

“Bye, Steven” she said softly as she crossed the room once again.

“Mm…..friends call me Skip” he mumbled from his sleep. 

“Whatever, loser” she called back with a smile as she headed out of his room and down the stairs where she found the house in total disarray with Norman Osborne being the only conscious person doing anything about it. He stood in the middle of the living room with a large plastic bag, scooping as much debris as he could gather into the bag.

“Mary” he said, almost as if he’d forgotten she’d stayed over, “I…good morning.”

“Morning, Norman” Mary replied politely, “Erm, Steven’s finally sleep. I’d stay and help you clear up but I’ve got to start heading back to New York with May and Richard in like a half an hour.”

“Oh, no worry” Norman said with a rare smile, “I actually quite enjoy cleaning. Helps me to clear my mind.”

Mary nodded.

“To each their own” she smirked, “I can’t imagine anything worse.”

“Can I give you a lift back to your hotel?” he asked. 

“No, I’ll walk” she replied, “It’s a nice morning and I’m so tired I fear I’ll fall asleep the second my ass hits some kind of soft surface, and I have an entire drive back up to New York to do that in.”

“Very well” Norman said with a nod, “I imagine we’ll see more of one another when we go back to school. I hope the rest of your summer is pleasant.”

“Right back at ya” she smirked before sighing, “Look after Steven today. He’s…err, there’s a lot more to him than I thought. Just….just make sure he’s OK, alright?”

“Of course” Norman replied. Mary smiled at him once again and made a beeline for the front door. The walk back up to the motel wasn’t very long at all and Mary enjoyed the heat of the Florida sunshine hitting her face as she reflected on the night before. She hadn’t expected to gain anything by coming to Florida and yet she was somehow going back to New York with a new friend and a new perspective. 

May and Richard were waiting for him by his car in the motel parking lot when she arrived. 

“You take the front seat” she called to May as she approached, “I haven’t been to sleep yet and I plan to make up for that on the drive back.”

“Great, so I have to make conversation with Rich for seven hours” May sighed before glancing up at Richard, “You’d better have some damn insightful views on Madonna’s Like a Prayer or this is going to be an exceedingly long trip for both of us. I need aspirin.”

As May took herself off to a nearby convenient store to stock up on supplies, Mary took a step into Richard’s open arms.

“How was your night of passion with Delta Thomas?” she asked.

“Passionate” Richard smirked as Mary hit him on the arm, “Dropped her off at the Greyhound station this morning. She’s gonna fly out and see me in New York in a few weeks, ain’t that great?”

“Wonderful, I’m happy for you” Mary lied, the thought actually made her want to die inside a little, but Richard seemed happy and she wasn’t going to ruin that.

“May tells me you were having a long dark night of the soul with Steven Westcott when she left you” Richard carried on, “That must have been enlightening.”

“Hey, don’t be a jerk” Mary scolded him, “It’s not in your nature and it was, actually. There’s a lot more to that guy than meets the eye. And it never hurts to have another friend.”

“Friend?” Richard asked, “Damn.”

“I could say the same about you and Delta Thomas” Mary reminded him, “Are she and Steven not essentially the male and female equivalents of one another?”

“Touché” Richard sighed as May returned with a bag full of snacks. Mary smiled, kissed Richard on the cheek and made her way into the backseat of his car. Richard and May piled into the front seat and pretty much immediately started bickering in their good-natured way about what music they were going to play first.

Mary rested her head on a pillow propped up against the window and finally drifted off to sleep, feeling a tad more whole than she had done before coming down to Florida.

She and Steven Westcott were friends now. And it was a friendship that would stand for years. 

*

_Tuesday, 26th December 2000, Osborne Manner, Long Island, New York._

She was trapped. Alone. A hostage. Taken prisoner by a three-way punch of doey eyes, toothy grins of childish glee and excitement and evil little cheek dimples that knew the chaos they were causing her soul and just didn’t care. Mary’s mother had often told her you’d never experience real love until you’d had your own child, and whilst Mary still didn’t necessarily agree with that, she at least understood the logic. Her love and dedication for Norman and May was still real love but the depths she was willing to go for them paled in comparison to what she would be willing to do for the three gorgeous little guys who were currently standing to attention in front of their father. 

Harry, all of five, already so mature and looking after his little brothers. Holding Peter’s hand in his with one arm and using the other to slowly hold a teetering Harley in place as the toddler swayed. Peter was ever himself in the moment, squeezing his big brother’s hand to find some form of comfort, nervous to his very soul. And Harley was just an adorable demon child who happily gargled over his father’s stern warnings not to ‘tire Mommy out’ as she was still ‘poorly’. 

(Heartbroken and physically scarred following a miscarriage plagued upon her by an unfortunate accident on the stairs, but she could never explain that to their babies. Let alone tell them what had actually happened. Even Norman didn’t know what had actually happened. No one did. And Mary planned to keep it that way)

“We be good Daddy, I pwomise!” Harry cooed. Mary watched as Norman smiled and ruffled his hair before kissing each boy on the head and then blowing a kiss to Mary as she sat on the sofa. She didn’t return it. They’d spent the last week and a half under the thumb of Norman’s visiting parents, the only thing keeping Mary going had been some family time between Christmas and New Year where Norman had assured her it’d be just them. So when he’d arrived back from dropping his parents off at JFK that morning and delivered the news that he would be needed in the office for the rest of the day, Mary was less than pleased.

It wasn’t that she was miffed about spending time with her boys. Every second she got to spend with her three little princes was a blessing but she had barely recovered from a fall down the stairs and as lovely as they all were, the combined sum of all three boys at once was exhausting. Part of her knew that they’d probably be better off with just her as Norman’s parenting skills still left a lot to be desired and all the boys seemed to really care about was getting as much attention from her as the possibly could. Which meant Mary was tired a lot of the time, but it also meant she wielded unwavering power over sons and could shut them up with just a look.

“I’ll be back around six, and I’ll bring dinner with me” were Norman’s final words before he all but ran out of the door, Mary unable to shake the feeling that he was just going into the office for a few hours peace, likely playing poker online. Once he was gone, Mary’s smile couldn’t really help but return as her three sons clumsily made their way back over to her and they all snuggled up together on the sofa.

Harley in her arms, Peter between her legs and Harry resting his head on her shoulder as a Christmas movie played on the television. Harley babbled away to himself as the movie played and Mary joined in with him.

“Mummy can’t hear movie” Harry grumbled after a while.

“I’m sorry honey” Mary replied as she kissed the top of his head, “We’ll be quiet now, or you can go and play a video in your room, if you want?”

“No! Wanna stay with you” Harry replied brightly.

“Stay with Mommy!” Peter echoed, ever his big brother’s most passionate imitator. Harley babbled something unintelligible but from the look on his face, it was clear he was agreeing with his big brothers. Mary buried her face in Peter’s curly hair as a wave of affection so potent it felt like she’d been kicked in the chest crashed over her. These boys. What had she ever done to deserve three lights as bright as them in her life she would never know.

“Mama, why’s Daddy always gotta go to work?” Harry asked a few minutes later, “Joey says his Daddy always stays with him for Christmas.”

“Daddy’s very busy, baby, he runs a whole company” Mary reminded her eldest, “Sometimes he can’t help that he has to be away from us, but I know he misses us. You guys especially.”

Harry frowned and Mary could tell that despite only being five he was already well aware that she was lying to him. More and more, Mary couldn’t hide from the fact that Norman seemed to want to avoid his duties to her and to their children whenever they could. Any opportunity to get out, he took. And even when he was present, he wasn’t ever really present. His disdain for his sons was obvious and though he would occasionally have loving moments with them, as he had done that morning, they were few and far between and the boys – especially Harry – were beginning to pick up on it.

“Can I show Petey how to play my Pokémon cards?” he asked. Peter, upon hearing his name come out of his big brother’s mouth, turned around quickly and enthusiastically nodded despite the fact that he likely hadn’t heard what Harry had specifically asked for and didn’t even like Pokémon games. But that was Peter. Sweet little Peter who would already bend over backwards to make other people happy even if it meant he wasn’t. Of all her kids, Peter was the one that Mary worried about the most, in spite of him having the sweetest demeanor. He was already so open, so kind, so loving, so willing to ignore what was best for him if it made someone else happy. The world took advantage of that and Mary had realized ages ago that Peter would need to be loved and coddled just that tiny bit harder. 

“Peter are you sure you want to play?” she asked her middle child as he bounced along the bed, delighted his big brother was asking to spend time with him, “Remember that the cards confuse you a little bit sometimes. And you don’t like battling them.”

“Be fine” Peter said giddily as he jumped up and down on the bed. Harley was clapping along with him, gargling happily. “Make Harry happy!”

Mary smiled sadly as Peter flopped down on to the bed when Harry ran back into the room with his photo album full of Pokémon cards. She sat back and watched for the next twenty minutes as Harry patiently explained to Peter what each of the cards meant and that if they had a battle, it didn’t mean anyone was getting hurt. This was an anxiety Peter had carried over from watching the television show with Harry as he had cried whenever the little yellow mouse got himself hurt. Mary watched with amusement as Harley crawled over and tried to join in, she was worried Harry was going to snap at the littlest brother for putting a card in his mouth and sucking on it. Instead, just as she was about to intervene, Harry sighed and said “No, Harley! Not like that!” and laughed as he took the card out of Harley’s mouth and sat the youngest on his knee and showed him how to shuffle the cards. Peter seemed to be more at ease with the idea of battling with the cards now and even though Mary could not understand a word of what they were saying, she knew when her boys were happy, and right then, they were happy.

Satisfied that she could leave them alone, happily distracted, Mary picked herself out of the bed and made her way to the kitchen to make her babies some lunch. Sure enough, her absence was noticed pretty much immediately and before she knew what was what, she was straining to lift her three boys on to the kitchen island stools that were too big for them to climb on to independently. It hurt and twisted her stomach to do so but she managed to push past it and make a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. No crusts for Harry, only brown bread for Peter, and as little jelly for Harley as possible to avoid a sugar rush and him having messy good all over his mouth for the rest of the afternoon.

“You’re doing so good, Petey!” Harry said happily as Peter finally won a hand in the game for the first time and cheered that his Pokémon had managed to live. Mary ruffled her eldest son’s hair; aware he had deliberately thrown the game so Peter would feel good about himself and want to play again in the future. Harry had passed Harley all of the different coloured energy cards – which were apparently useless – and allowed him to play with those, the toddler actually remembering not to suck on them. 

“I won Mommy!” Peter said gleefully as he pulled Mary over to him to show her the cards he’d just won, “Look! I did it!”

“That’s great, sweetie” Mary said as she hugged Peter, “You’re so smart!”

“He kicked my butt!” Harry said cheerfully. 

Mary laughed as Harley picked up on the celebratory atmosphere and happily threw the six cards he’d gathered up in the air. Harry looked a little annoyed that some of his cards had ended up on the floor and leaped off the stool to pick them up but smiled as he passed them back to Harley and asked him not to do it again. 

“Arry c’d” Harley chirped as he was handed them back, “Car! Harry cars!”

“He said my name mama!” Harry said happily, “He’s never said it before!”

Mary, who had had another rush of overwhelming affection when she’d heard Harley talk, took a deep breath, and smiled hard at Harley who delighted in being picked up and swirled around by his mother who kissed his cheeks over and over.

“My clever boy!” she said proudly, “Look at you, saying your big brother’s name!”

“Arry!” the boy repeated excitedly, “Arry, Arry, Arry!”

“Can he say my name?!” Peter asked. 

“Yeah, can you say Petey’s name?” Harry joined in, looking Harley kindly in the face as Mary set him back down. Harley reached out and bopped his brother’s nose. “Peter. Can you say Peter?”

“Pea-Cha” Harley said slowly and Mary smiled once again as Peter beamed and Harry laughed out loud, “Pea-Cha! Arry!”

“Well done, baby!” Mary said, feeling beyond proud as she leaned down and gave Harley a kiss, “You’re so clever!”

“Pea-Cha! Arry! Pea-Cha! Arry!” the boy giggled along with his brothers and Mary tried not to just burst into tears from the precious scene going on in front of her. Luckily, she was distracted by the ringing of the door bell and tore herself away from her adorable boys as they conveyed in on Harley who kept chirping the same two names over and over again. Mary smiled and felt a sense of relief in her chest when she opened the door to find Steven Westcott standing outside of it armed with bags full of Christmas presents for the boys and a rather large bottle of wine for her. 

“Steven!” she said as she engulfed him in a hug, “Come in, come in! How are you? Did you have a nice day yesterday?”

“Oh, so-so” Steven sighed, “Dad’s still not happy about that whole mess at the Gala a few months back but we’re getting there. I hope I’m not imposing?”

“Impose? Never, you’re one of the family!” Mary said brightly, “Come in, the boys will be delighted to see you!”

Steven smiled as she led him through back into the kitchen. When they’d first become friends eleven years ago, Steven had told her that his friends called him Skip, something she’d tried out for a while but never felt right. He would always be Steven to her.

“Norman not around?” he asked casually

“Working” Mary sighed, barely containing her frustration as they returned to the kitchen to find exactly the scene she’d left a minute previously, “Probably should have seen that one coming.”

“Bitterness does not suit you, Mrs. Osborne” Steven teased as the boys looked up and cheered as they saw their Uncle Skip. Mary smiled. The boys had always loved Steven, especially Peter, to the extent that she and Norman had asked Steven to be the boys god father, something he agreed to pretty much immediately in spite of him being an atheist. 

“Uncle Skip!” Harry shouted before launching himself at the man who swung him around and gently placed him on the floor, before doing the same with Peter. 

“If it isn’t my three favorite little gremlins!” Steven said fondly as he made his way over to Harley who was making little grabby hands at Steven, wanting to be picked up.  
“Christmas!” Peter shrieked as he pointed to Steven’s discarded carrier bags that were chock full of presents for the boys.

“All in good time, Einstein” Steven replied, “Why don’t we all go and have a seat in the living room first and then we can open the presents.”

Harry and Peter nodded and started a game of tig before running off to go and sit in the living room. Steven passed Harley over to Mary so he could pick up his rather heavy looking bags.

“You don’t have to spoil them every year, y’know” she told him, “Not that I don’t appreciate the gifts of course.”

“Who else am I gonna spoil?” he asked, “I make six figures a year and have absolutely no dependents. There’s only so many yachts one can buy.”

Mary rolled her eyes as they arrived in the living room where Harry and Peter were sitting in the exact same spots where they’d opened their presents from Santa the day before. Peter was practically vibrating with excitement. Mary sat herself and Harley down on a chair behind the boys as Steven faced them all with a smile. He dished out three presents for each of them, Harry digging into his without assistance, Steven helping Peter with his and Mary unwrapping Harley’s presents as he bounced up and down in her lap. The boys were all incredibly happy with what he’d got them.

“What do we say to Uncle Skip, boys?” Mary asked once they were done. A chaotic and scrambled chorus of Thank You’s filled the room as Steven chuckled and reached into his bag for one last present. 

“So, I talked to a few contacts and was able to get us all a special treat” he said as he clutched what looked to be a VHS in his arms. Harry and Peter both scooched forward and looked up at him in awe. “Now, I know that you guys really wanted to go to the movies and watch this but it didn’t end up happening so I rang a few friends and managed to get an advanced copy of this movie on video…”

“What movie?” Peter asked.

“How The Grinch Stole Christmas!” Steven announced and it elicited the expected reactions from both Harry and Peter who jumped up in celebration. Mary smiled and felt very appreciative of her friend in that moment. The boys, Harry especially, had been begging their father to take them to the theatre for weeks to see that film and he had let them down at every turn. The most recent time being on Christmas Eve. She’d ranted to Steven about it over the phone that night and somehow in the space of forty-eight hours, twenty-four of those being Christmas day, he’d somehow managed to get a copy of it for the boys to watch at home. 

Within ten minutes, everyone was all snuggled up on the sofa, watching the movie. Mary held a now sleeping Harley in her arms whilst Harry watched the film and played about with her hand, the way he liked to when he wanted to concentrate and knew he needed something to keep his fidgeting habit at bay. Peter was all cuddled up with his god-father, looking cozier and safer than he ever did in his father’s arms. His eyes were furiously blinking back and forth, trying to stay open to watch the movie but clearly wanting to give in to sleeping with the comfort of Steven holding him.

Harry was the last holdout, drifting off just as the film’s credits rolled. They stayed in peaceful silence long after they’d ended and the screen had turned to static. 

“You seem tired, Mary” Steven whispered as he looked over at her.

“I feel tired” she admitted, “It’s just been non-stop these last few months. Rough. Really rough.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t around more after the accident” he told her as he stoked a sleeping Peter’s hair, “I wanted to be but Norman said the thing you needed most was space and to be honest, I don’t think he was in the state of mind to be disagreed with.”

“Shame he couldn’t focus his attention on me-“ Mary spat but stopped herself. She had to remember that Steven was more Norman’s friend than he was hers, even after all these years. 

“You and I both know what he’s like” Steven whispered, “Never has been particularly good with feelings and emotions and all that crap. I’m your friend as well as his, please don’t think you can’t come to me with problems.”

“Well, he needs to start getting better” Mary snapped, “I am exhausted, Steven. I love these boys more than I could ever say but I feel like I’m doing all of this on my own. That I’m a single parent. It is constant and I’m still trying to get my head around everything that’s happened and I feel like I’m completely on my own.”

“You’re not on your own” Steven assured her, squeezing Peter’s shoulder, “You got these little guys for one thing and they’re like, the best. And you have May. I know she and I don’t really see eye to eye but she’s easily the most passionate and loyal friend you could ever wish for. And I’ve always got your back if you need me to have it.”

“Thanks Steven, that really means a lot” she replied with a smile.

“You know my friends call me Skip, right?” he teased.

“Oh shut up, nerd” she teased back, willing herself to smile and actually being surprised when she managed it. 

“I remember you saying that to Richard Parker a lot” Steven mused, “He was a nice guy, for the most part, looking back. You guys were close. Do you ever hear from him? I know May ended up marrying his brother. Kinda expected to see him around a bit after that.”

Mary paused. She knew that telling her husband’s best friend that Richard Parker’s condolence later from when she’d had the miscarriage was tucked away in her vanity chest, the last place anyone in the house would ever look, not that they would be looking. She couldn’t tell him that hearing from Richard again after five long years, even under such awful circumstances, had re-ignited feelings that she had been ignoring for half a decade. The entire span of her marriage. The entire span of her babies lives. 

“He’s busy, working abroad” she replied, “Ben and May barely ever see him, so it’s not really a surprise I don’t. Not seen him since the night before-you know what, enough about the old times. Tell me something to look forward to. The future. 2001 needs to be better, wouldn’t you agree.”

“Most definitely, Mrs. Osborne” Skip sighed, “Most definitely.”

*

_Tuesday, 17th March 2009, Osborne Penthouse, Manhattan, New York._

Peter’s scream was feral. Terrifying. Mary had never heard anything quite so distressing in her entire life and she never would have expected her usually meek and rather shy middle child to have been capable of producing such a gut-wrenching noise. It was like Peter had heard the word murder and suddenly seen Steven Westcott’s death take place in front of his very eyes. 

The boy didn’t stop for comfort or even so much as a look at anyone else as he took himself off upstairs, in a fit of tears. Mary felt frozen to the spot. Every maternal instinct in her body was telling her to chase after Peter and make sure that he was alright but she had three other children who also needed her attention and had had a nasty shock. She turned around and saw that Harley was quietly crying into May’s shoulder whilst Harry stood off to the side, eyebrows narrowing, looking more angry and much more like his father than Mary had ever seen him. Miriam, the tutor, picked Abigail out of her chair and offered to take her for a few hours. Norman agreed before Mary could protest but by the time she was able to kick her brain into gear and put a sentence together, it was too late. Miriam and Abigail were gone. 

Steven was dead. How could Steven be dead? He’d always been so full of life, one of those people you felt was just going to live forever. The thought of Steven Westcott lying dead and motionless on some mortuary slab, life snuffed out before his time, seemed unimaginable. It was wrong. It was all so very wrong. 

“Why would someone kill him?” Harry asked, breaking the unbearable silence in the room at long last, “What did Uncle Skip ever do to make someone hate him that much? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Harold, your Uncle had his demons” Norman explained in what he was probably assuming was a compassionate tone of voice but Mary winced at how harsh and unsympathetic her husband sounded. But she knew him. She knew how he worked. Steven had been his best friend for twenty years and this would be hitting him hard. Norman had never known how best to express his emotions. “He knew how to push people’s buttons, knew just the right thing to say or do to-“

“Boss-“ Quentin Beck interjected warningly and to Mary’s surprise, Norman’s eyes widened and he immediately stopped talking, “I don’t know if a post mortem’s really necessary right now. You should probably head down to the police station, see if they need anything from you.”

For once in his useless life, Beck was actually making a reasonable suggestion. Mary knew that most women would have expected their husbands to stay and help them take care of their children who had just lost a loved one in a graphic, awful way but she’d learned long ago not to expect such things of Norman Osborne. He’d probably just make the situation worse if he tried to comfort the boys. Mary looked at May who nodded. They were an unbreakable team when it came to managing the boys, they’d be better off if Norman and Beck weren’t around to muddy the waters.

“Call me if there’s any news” she called to Norman as he nodded before leaving the penthouse with Beck just behind him. 

“Mom, I’m scared for Peter” Harley muttered once he knew his father was out of earshot, “I never seen him like that before.”

“None of us have, sweetie” May replied softly, “But Peter and your Uncle Skip were awfully close, so he’s bound to be upset.”

“That was beyond upset” Harry noted, “Maybe it’s because Peter told him he wished he were dead last night, probably makes him feel bad.”

“That’s not helpful, Harry” Mary snapped, “And it’s not going to help your brother if he hears you talking like that.”

“Just saying” Harry muttered, “Shouldn’t someone like….check on him?”

Mary paused. She honestly didn’t know what to do for the best. Peter’s raw and visceral grief had shocked her to her core and she was honestly a little scared to check on Peter right away, that some time on his own to process what he’d just heard might help him more than being bombarded with people. Plus, she needed to make sure her other babies were OK as well. 

“I’ll go up in a few minutes” she decided before moving towards Harry and throwing her arms around his neck. Harry often recoiled from hugs or any kind of physical affection nowadays so she was relieved when he accepted the embrace and hummed sadly as he rested his head on her shoulder. “It’s OK to be sad, baby” she told him.

“I’m not sad” Harry breathed back, “I don’t know how I am – confused, I guess. And worried about Peter.”

“Peter will be fine” she said, trying desperately to perk her voice up but not quite managing it, “All of his favorite people are under this roof and he knows that he can come to us about anything if needs to.”

“He won’t though” Harry sighed, “Petey’s not like that. He’ll never tell anyone when he’s sad cos he think it’ll make them sad too.”

Mary winced. She sometimes forgot how grown-up and insightful Harry could be now he was getting a little bit older, certainly beyond what the average thirteen-year-old was usually capable of. And she knew the truth as well. She knew why Harry shied away from physical touch now, she knew his body was littered with bruises given by his father’s own hands, and it made her feel sick to her stomach. Disgusted with herself for not having the courage, conviction or means to save herself and her boys before it was too late. But now was too late. 

“I don’t want Peter to be sad” Harley moaned from where May was holding him, “He’s been sad for ages.”

So, Harley had noticed too. Peter had been acting strangely for weeks now and his outburst at Steven when the man turned up drunk two nights before had been very out of character as well. Mary had been talked out of going to check on him by her husband after that incident, so she sure as hell wasn’t going to ignore her boys tears this time around.

“Boys, come here a second” Mary sighed and Harley detached himself away from May and rushed over to her, “I’m going to go and spend some time with your brother and I need you to be good for May, alright? I know you both will be. And I need you both to know how much I love you and that I am not going anywhere. I know this must be scary and confusing and sad but we are all here, and we all love you very much.”

Harry nodded as Harley sniffled a little and wrapped his arms around Mary’s stomach. She kissed the top of his head before releasing him. Nodding at May as she got up to leave, Mary took a deep breath before walking towards Peter’s bedroom, elevating herself to a run when she heard him scream again and then what sounded like glass shattering. Mary opened the door to find Peter screaming at the wall and pretty much tearing apart and destroying anything in his room he could get his hands on. He’d ragged down the curtains, broken the glass in his bathroom mirror and flipped his desk, bed and wardrobe upside down. The floor was littered with glass, clothes and Peter’s bare feet were bleeding.

“PETER!” she called but her son ignored, “PETER! CALM DOWN! STOP IT!”

But Peter wouldn’t stop. He didn’t even look in his mother’s direction as he stormed across his bedroom and trashed a shelf that held various medals and certificates he’d got from school over the years. The room was trashed and Mary knew that she had to do something before he seriously hurt himself so against her better judgement, she waded in and grabbed Peter’s wrist just as he was about to hurl a trophy through his bedroom window. 

“GET OFF ME!” he screamed.

“Peter, it’s me, it’s Mom” she said soothingly, rubbing small circles on the palm of his hand with her thumb, “It’s just your Mom, honey. Just me. I’m here.”

“Let me go” he said petulantly, though he was no longer making any real effort to break free from her grasp. Mary was relieved, Peter was surprisingly strong for his age and frame. “I need to….just let me go, please.”

As he turned his head to look at her, Mary got the first proper look at her son. His face was sheet white, his eyes were darkened and hard, red raw around the rims from his crying and his whole body seemed to be in some kind of flux. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he was on the edge of yet another seizure. 

“I’m not letting you go just yet, baby” she replied as she tucked Peter in closer and held him in her lap almost as if he was actually a baby, “We’re going to sit here and take some deep breaths, just me and you, and then we’re going to get some bandages for your feet. After that, it’s up to you. But I’m not leaving or going anywhere, it’s just going to be me and you.”

To her surprise, Peter did not try and fight this. He simply sighed and stayed in her arms, reaching her arm across his chest to hold him in place as he tried to get his breath back. It was a relief when she could feel his heart rate begin to return to a normal pace and he curled one of his fingers around her thumb. 

“Mama” he whispered after a few minutes of silence.

“Here baby, I’m right here” she replied softly, “You are safe.” She guessed that May had somehow managed to keep Harley and Harry downstairs amidst the chaos which she was eternally grateful for. This was time she needed for just her and Peter. 

“’M sorry” he mumbled, “’m so sorry”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, my angel” Mary replied, fighting back tears as Peter’s started up again, “We’ll clear everything up and your room will be back to normal before you know it.”

“Didn’t mean to” Peter whispered, “I didn’t mean to”

“Baby, we all lose our cool sometimes-“

“No. Not room. Skip.” Peter replied with a sigh, “Told him I hated him, told him I wished he was dead and I….I didn’t-I don’t-I don’t know what to do, mama.”

He began to sob again and Mary just held her baby as tightly to her as she could. The sobs weren’t as feral sounding as they had been before but they still pulsated through Peter’s body and the sound of it tore her apart. She was aware she was on the cusp of losing him again when he started to whimper, struggle and his feet kicked out a little. Peter groaned as Mary pulled him in closer and kissed him on the cheek.

“No, I-“

“ _You say, go slow, I fall behind. The drum beats out of time_.” she began to sing to him and he calmed almost instantly. He always did whenever she would sing to him. “ _If you’re lost you can look and you will find me, time after time. If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting, time after time_.”

It normally felt better than that. That was their song. Her song for her boys, and whilst it calmed Peter down to hear her voice, Mary couldn’t help but feel the moment wasn’t personal enough to Peter. This was the song he shared with his brothers and whilst that was important and an embodiment of all the good things in Mary’s life, she knew in that moment Peter needed something that was just strictly between her and him.

Thankfully, Cyndi had never let her down, and she wasn’t about to start now.

“ _You with the sad eyes, don’t be discouraged, oh I realize it’s hard to take courage_ ” she began singing and Peter immediately stopped. He turned and looked back up at her, darkened eyes brightening a little as they shined with tears and a look of disbelief etched on his face as he realized that this was for him. Just for him. No one else. “ _In a world full of people, you can lose sight of it all, and darkness still inside can make you feel so small_.”

His hand found hers once again and he squeezed it. 

“ _But I see your true colors, shining through_ ” she sang, “ _I see your true colors and that’s why I love you. So don’t be afraid, to let them show your true colors, true colors, are beautiful like a rainbow._ ”

Peter laughed at the last line. And it was, as it always had been, the most beautiful sound in the world to Mary who laughed along with him.

“Something funny, big guy?” she asked.

“No” Peter sighed, “I don’t know…..just made me feel happy, hearing you call me a rainbow, it’s stupid.”

“It’s the least stupid thing in the world, sweetheart” she replied and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

“Sing it again?” he asked.

“Of course, darling” she replied.

Mary didn’t know how long she and Peter spent on the floor like that. It was dark by the time they moved and no one had disturbed them. She could faintly hear the sound of television and conversation downstairs and felt content to stay with Peter, knowing her other babies were safe with the person in the world she trusted beyond all others.

“You can go if you want” Peter said quietly, “You should make sure Harley and Abbie-“

“I said I’m staying with you, and that’s exactly what I am going to do” she told him firmly as he whimpered, “Because I’ve let you down before and I’m not going to let you down again.”

“You never let me down” Peter said quickly, “Never, ever. I’m sorry. I should-“

God, he was so heartbreaking. Even now, as she was telling him how she’d let him down, all this kind boy in her arms could do was apologize and assume it was somehow his fault. How had she let things slip away from her so badly? Years ago, she knew that Peter would need a little bit of extra love and attention to stop situations exactly like this from happening, but here they were. Where had she gone wrong?

“C’mon, baby. We can’t stay in here.” she said as she pulled him up by his arms and tucked him safely into her side. He felt thinner. As if Harley wasn’t enough to worry about in that regard. 

“Where are we going?” he asked as they stepped outside and into the hallway.

“Mine and your Dad’s room” Mary replied, “You need to get some rest, baby, and I need to make sure you actually get it. So you’re gonna be staying with me tonight.”

“But what about Abbie and Dad?” he asked. 

“Abbie’s a good sleeper now and your Dad can stand one night on a sofa.” Mary replied, “And then tomorrow, we can have a real talk about how your feeling and think about how we’re going to make it all better.”

Peter nodded. His eyes had darkened once again.

Two hours later and they were both laid out in Mary’s bed facing one another. It was almost scary to look at Peter in this kind of state, even whilst he was sleeping. His face contorted in pain and his breathing was uneven. She knew that hearing his god-father had been murdered had clearly affected Peter deeply but deep down, Mary knew that there was something else wrong with her son. Their had been for ages. Something about the way he carried himself had changed. 

And yet, he was still so kind. So loving. Always putting everyone else before himself, desperate to make everyone’s lives easier in whatever way he could. It wasn’t sustainable and he would burn out before long. And Mary knew, she could not let him down again. She couldn’t let any of them down again. It was time she put her fears to one side and did what was best for her boys.

*

_Friday, May 15th, 2009, Central Park, Manhattan, New York._

It had taken nearly a month to bury Steven. A murder inquiry had been launched which had delayed the release of Steven’s body and with no family left of his own, it fell down to Mary and Norman to plan his funeral. She’d been happy enough to do it and had kept the service small out of respect as she knew Steven wouldn’t have wanted a fuss. A fair few old faces from college made the journey, more than a few ex-girlfriends plus the Parkers and Norman’s parents. It hadn’t been a lot, but it had been enough. 

Peter was still out of sorts. The violent outbursts of grief had stopped and he seemed to be walking around in something of a haze now. He got all his mannerisms right, to the untrained eye it probably seemed as if nothing was wrong with him. Peter got up and got dressed every day, still sat next to Harley at every meal time and encourages him to eat as much as he could, still sat patiently with Harry whilst he ranted about something at school or how Norman had pissed him off again, still gave everyone around him a hug and a cheery hello when he woke up and a good night when he went to bed. But it was different. Like he was running on autopilot, like he wasn’t really her Peter anymore.

May had drunkenly asked her one night if she had a favorite child. Being childless herself, she wanted to know if the old saying was true, and for Mary it was. There was no way she could ever pick a favourite child. She’d loved her boys equally all of their lives and when Abbie came along, she’d immediately felt that same degree of love. But all children are different, and all need love in slightly different ways. For Peter, he gave so much love out to everyone else that he forgot himself. Harry and Harley struggled with self-love as well but theirs was different. It was inflicted, a result of the way they’d been hurt by their Dad and the way she’d stepped back and allowed it to happen, whereas it seemed to just be an intrinsic part of Peter’s personality. Mary guessed it must have come from her side of the family as no one from Norman’s had even an inch of selflessness in their bones, but she knew for sure it wasn’t inherited from her. 

Mary had spent the last month coming to terms with the fact that she had been a selfish and cowardly mother. Her philosophy had always been that as long as she and May and Ben and whoever else were around to shower the boys in love, it made more sense staying married to Norman than leaving him. They could fix the damage. They’d had security. Because Mary had no money of her own, nothing in her own name, save for her mother’s rings which were maybe worth about three grand all together. Hardly enough for a new life as a single mother supporting four kids. May had always insisted that she and Ben would take them in, always glossing over or shrugging off Mary’s rebuttal that if she were to leave Norman and move in with them, both Ben and May would lose their jobs as well. 

But now, as she noticed Harry strain to hide new bruises every day, as every meal continued to be a battle with Harley, as Peter seemed to lose another little piece of his soul every day, she knew she’d made a huge mistake. Her boys were fading, suffering, and she had stood back and let it happen. And the thing was, all of this had come crashing down on her during a time where Norman seemed to be trying to change his ways. She didn’t know if Steven’s death had humbled him in some way but whatever the reason; it was a case of too little too late and every day she had to fight the temptation to tell the boys to pack up their things and leave with her. She knew they would.

That would only lead to disaster though. They had nothing planned, nowhere to go, and no money. Until Mary could figure out what to do, she was stuck. But she had a plan, even if it was one she was sure would never work.

“Nice to see you, Mary” Tony Stark’s voice rang out. Mary turned her attention away from watching May with Abbie and Harley in a nearby playground, stood up and flashed her best smile at the billionaire who approached her with his arms extended. She shook it. The lie was about to begin. 

“Always a pleasure, Mr. Stark” she replied, “Thank you for meeting me here. I know it’s a little unorthodox but I needed to get the kids out of the house for a while and this seemed an easy place for you to come meet us.”

Tony sat down next to her on the bench.

“Anything that goes against convention is fine by me” Tony replied, “And I do have my own motivations for agreeing to meet you as well.”

“Oh, such as?” she asked. 

“There’s been something I’ve been meaning to contact you about for a while” Tony said heavily, sounding nervous, “I didn’t think much of it at the time and I would’ve said something sooner but things have been getting on top of me recently and I know you’ve had all your troubles with the new baby and now Norman’s friend passing away but-“

“Tony, breathe” Mary told him, “You’re almost hyperventilating. Just tell me what it is, I’m sure it’ll be nothing.”

“OK, it’s about your boy….Peter” Tony replied and immediately Mary felt dread in the pit of her stomach.

“Peter?” she repeated, “What about him?”

“Just, I had a chat with him at my party on Christmas Eve” Tony replied, “Well, I say chat, I did most of the talking. Which is the case, usually, but Peter seemed….I dunno, kind of out of it? It was strange. He’d definitely been crying and I know I don’t really know the kid but he always seemed kinda happy-go-lucky to me and it was Christmas, kids are meant to be happy at Christmas and it was probably nothing and it’s been months and-“

“Tony, no, thank you for telling me” Mary assured him, putting a hand on his now shaking knee to steady him in much the same way she did when one of her boys was anxious, “That’s really useful to…know, he’s err-Pete’s been struggling for a while, to tell you the truth. Skip’s deaths really knocked him but I think there’s been something going on for a while”

“I found him crying on the balcony” Tony said quickly, “He told me things were hard at home but wouldn’t go into why. So I just….reminded him he’s got an awesome Mom and he seemed to cheer up a little after that. Then you went into labor and he ran off with Harry and I’ve not seen him since. I’m sorry to hear the kids still got troubles.”

“We’re working on it” Mary sighed, feeling even more guilty for the deceit that she was about to partake in. Tony Stark was a good, kind, honest man.

“Mary, I-“ 

Tony began but was interrupted with a yelp from Harley who was a picture of childhood glee as he spotted Tony and ran over to the bench they were seated on. Mary couldn’t help but smile as Tony immediately donned his trademark sun glasses and turned into ‘Tony Stark The Celebrity’ before the boys eyes. 

“Hi, Mr. Stark!” Harley said enthusiastically, “I haven’t seen you since before Christmas!”

“I know kiddo, been way too long” Tony replied with equal enthusiasm, “How have things been?”

“Kinda sucky” Harley replied, “Our Uncle Skip died.”

“Yeah, I heard about that” Tony said sympathetically, “Very sad business. You must miss him.”

“A bit” Harley said with a shrug, “But it’s Peter who really misses him. They were like special friends or something.”

“Special friends?” Tony asked with a smile, “What made them special friends?”

“Dunno, really” Harley said slowly, “Petey used to say that they just got each other. He’s really sad without him.”

“Aww, well you tell Peter to keep his chin up from me” Tony said with a smile, “But me and your Mom do still need to talk bud, boring adult stuff, why don’t you go and play and then I’ll come and meet your new baby sister in a few minutes.”

“OK!” Harley said with a little jump of excitement, before turning to Mary and pouting a little with his arms crossed, “Mama, May says that I can get an ice cream if I want. Is-is that OK if I do?”

For the first time in weeks, Mary felt her heart sore a little. 

“Of course it is baby!” she said brightly, “You go and get yourself whatever ice cream you want, the only rule is you have to bring back one for me and one for Mr. Stark as well. Do you think you can manage that?”

“OK, but I don’t know Mr. Stark’s flavourite-I mean, favorite, flavor” Harley said shyly as he looked back at Tony who smiled at him.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having, kid” he replied after giving Mary a knowing look that worried her to her core. Could other people see so easily the issues that her boys had? Was the whole world aware of what a terrible mother she really was? Harley giggled and bounded back over to May with his new instructions. She waved at Tony from across the park.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying this” Tony said slowly once Harley was out of ear shot, “I might be totally out of line here but Harley, he’s…..he’s lost a lot of weight since I last saw him. Like, a worrying amount.”

Mary nodded, barely managing to fight back tears.

“Yeah, yeah he has” she confessed, “We’re-erm, we’re trying to deal with it. Which is why it’s really good that he came over and actually asked if he could get some ice cream. Mealtimes with him are such a battle, thanks for figuring that out and playing along.”

“Not a problem” Tony sighed, “Mary, why am I really here? And don’t feed me some bullshit story about donating money to Norman’s campaign. We both know I stand opposed to everything he’s running for.”

“Tony, I-“

“Or maybe that’s what you were going to ask me” Tony went on, “But that’s not what you were going to use my money for, which would have been fraud, might I add.”

“I should go-“

“No, stay please” Tony said a little desperately, “Mary, I’m not judging you. And I want to help you and I think I know what’s going on here but I need you to answer this next question honestly so I know I’m in the right ballpark…..is Norman hurting your boys?”

Well, damn, if being asked outright didn’t finish her off for good. Mary burst into tears and hid her head in her hands as Tony’s hand found its way to her back and patted it in an effort to comfort her. 

“I’m sorry” she said after a few moments, “Sorry, Tony, I just-yeah, yeah he is.”

“Bastard” Tony said under his breath, “So, how can I help?”

“Oh, Tony, I can’t ask-“

“You were going to though” he snapped, “Would you seriously rather have lied to me and got the money under false pretenses? Not that I would have cared either way, but I’d sleep easier at night knowing I helped you and those beautiful boys of yours out.”

“I’m sorry” she cried again, “It was a stupid plan. I just haven’t been thinking straight lately, so much has been happening. He’s killing them, Tony, and what scares me is I know there’s more to all of it. Especially Peter. My god, when I look him in the eyes and there’s just-it’s like my little boy isn’t even there anymore.”

Tony sighed.

“You never knew my old man, did ya?” he asked. Mary shook her head. “Norman did, if I didn’t think he was the scum of the Earth now I’d probably be telling you to ask him all about Howard Stark. I don’t want to get too far into this because this isn’t about me, but let’s just say, I know exactly what yours boys are going through and if I’d had the chance to get out of their with my Mom when I was their age…..that’d have been just about the best thing in the world.”

“I’m sorry Tony, I had no idea” she replied, unintentionally he was making her feel worse with every passing word, “You must think I’m awful.”

“I think you’re trying to do your best for yours boys” he replied, “Just because what you’ve decided is best for them might have changed doesn’t matter, as long as they were what you put first all these years.”

“They were, are” Mary replied, “At least I hope they were. I don’t know, Tony, it’s all just such a mess. I’d have left years ago but I’ve not got a penny to my name away from Norman, and if I do leave him, he’ll be out for my blood. Especially now.”

Tony paused.

“I can help you” he told her, “I can help you with money, I can help you with security, but if we’re going to do this right, it might take a while.”

“We can hold out” she told him, “We can hold out a little longer. Norman, I think he’s trying to be decent at the moment, and I’ll put my all into keeping the boys from harm until it’s safe for us to go.”

Tony smiled and patted her hand before pulling a cheque book out of his coat pocket and hurriedly writing one out, he tore it from the book and handed it over to Mary, who blanched and almost dropped it when she saw how much he’d made it out for.

“Tony, I can’t accept this much” she said breathlessly, “It’s way too much, I-“

“I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life, Mary” Tony interjected, “A lot of fucked up stuff, stuff that keeps me awake at night, stuff that drives me to do what I do every day to make up for it all. I can’t afford to have more demons, and not helping you would be doing just that. But it’s not just for me, it’s for your boys. Like I said, I know how they must feel. Trapped. Helpless. Scared. And overtime, what it does to you….you internalize it, start to wonder if maybe it’s just you. Maybe you deserve the abuse because you’re just bad. I don’t want that for your boys, Mary. They are all bright and beautiful and kind and they deserve to be happy.”

“But-“

“Do what you want with that money” he went on, “Use it to build a life for you and your kids, away from Norman, away from this city if that’s what you need. Because at the end of the day, Mary, this isn’t just about me or you.”

“Thank you” Mary replied quietly as she pocketed the cheque carefully and wiped her eyes, “You will never know how much this means to me, Tony. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

“Seeing those boys grow and thrive will be reward enough for me” Tony said with a smile as Harley skipped over and happily presented Tony with a mint chocolate chip ice-cream cone that matched his own, “And he’s a genius! How did you guess my favorite flavor!”

“Did I really guess it?” Harley asked with a giggle.

“You did, bud” Tony said sweetly, “I don’t know how – we must be connected or something!”

“Cool!” Harley said as he turned to Mary and smiled, “I got you a strawberry one but I dropped it so May’s getting you another one. Oopsies!”

Mary smiled and pulled Harley in for a hug. He seemed a little confused at the sudden sign of affection but did not fight in and hummed contentedly in his mother’s arms. She couldn’t help but smile, for the first time in a long time, she had some hope. 

*

_Saturday, 30th May 2009, Osborne Manner, Long Island, New York._

They hadn’t left yet. They should have, really, but the cheque had not yet cleared into Mary’s secret new bank account and she was not stepping one foot outside the door with her kids into the great unknown until she knew they were financially safe. May knew about her plans and was delighted but they hadn’t told the boys yet. There was no point. Mary knew one thing for sure and that was that despite all of her failures, the boys would not hesitate to leave with her the second she told them they were leaving. She doubted any of them would even look back as they left. 

That Saturday afternoon found Mary and her kids alone in the Long Island home. They were there to get some much needed space from the city. Ben and May were out for dinner and a show and Norman had lab business in Manhattan with Richard that would keep him away for most of the night. Mary hadn’t thought twice about Richard whilst planning all of this. He didn’t factor into her plans at all. He was a distraction at the moment, it felt cruel, but she’d have to consider his feelings and his place in her life when she’d got herself and her boys sorted. She couldn’t help but wish he’d tell her to get fucked when she eventually did. They had no future. It had all been a fantasy. Tony Stark was keeping in daily contact with her now, he’d tried to get the money cleared earlier, but as the deposit had been made by Mary, it was out of his hands. It was quite amusing watching him struggle through bureaucracy. 

“Mom, I need to talk to you” Harry’s deepening voice rang out from behind her. Mary turned around and smiled as her eldest walked into the living room and nervously sat down next to her. She scooched over a little closer to him, opening her arms and offering a hug but Harry froze before edging away slightly. Her heart broke a little. 

“What do you need to say, baby?” she asked him.

“Do you love Peter more than me?” he asked sharply, voice so harsh that it made Mary flinch a little.

“No, of course I don’t, what makes you think that?” she replied in shock, “Harry, I love you all you buys and Abbie the exact same.”

“Really?” Harry asked, “Cos I wouldn’t blame you if you did, y’know. Peter’s better than me is just about every way and everyone loves him. It’s not bad if you do, I just wanna know if you do.”

“Well, I don’t” Mary said sternly, “And it’s silly of you to even think it, Harry, what’s brought all of this on? Why would you even ask me this?”

“Dunno” Harry shrugged, “Just that-well, everyone loves Peter, don’t they? Like everyone we meet always says how nice and polite he is and that you can’t help but love him. And I feel the same way cos he’s literally my best friend but….I dunno, just-I’m being dumb, aren’t I?”

“A little” Mary smirked and was relieved when Harry laughed a-long with her, “But you’re never dumb for feeling how you feel. But I need to know why you’re asking me this, baby, because it can’t have just come from nowhere.”

Harry closed his eyes and sighed.

“OK, if you tell me this, you gotta promise you won’t freak out” he said slowly, triggering the exact term of phrase that Mary would need to start freaking out, “Cos I only found out this from Harley who only found it out from Peter and Peter made him keep it a secret and then Harley started freaking out when he accidentally told me and I haven’t even talked to Peter about it but I’m really, really worried-“

“Breathe” Mary instructed him, “Honey, breathe. I’m not gonna freak out, OK, and no one’s getting into any trouble but I need you to tell me exactly what you found out. You know how worried I’ve been about all you boys lately.”

“OK” Harry breathed and took a deep breath, “Erm, Uncle Skip gave Peter a cellphone and told him to keep it a secret from all of us.”

Mary…..hadn’t been expecting to hear that. 

“Does…does Peter still have this cellphone?” she asked. Harry shook his head.

“I don’t know if he lost it or broke it or something” Harry replied, “But he was really mad at Harley for telling me. Like, I’ve never seen him that mad before.”

“When was all this?” Mary asked.

“Few days ago” Harry shrugged, “When you and May went out for dinner and we were alone with Ben. That’s why Harley’s not been eating much the last few days cos he’s upset he had a fight with Peter.”

“I see” Mary said slowly.

“I figured I should tell you” Harry replied, “They’re gonna be so mad at me but I think you should know cos….well, it’s kinda sketchy isn’t it? I remember when you and May gave me that talk when that guy tried to talk to me in the park that time, about how if a grown-up asks you to keep a secret, it means they’re probably up to no good. And I loved Uncle Skip but…it just gives me a bad feeling, Mom.”

“You and me both hun” Mary replied sitting back in her seat and running her hands through her hair, “Right. OK. Erm, I wanna say that your Uncle Skip….he probably just-I don’t know, I don’t know why he would do this-“

“Because he loved Peter the most” Harry finished for her, “Because Peter and him had a special bond or whatever. Maybe he gave it to Peter so that he’d feel safe. Maybe so Peter wouldn’t feel alone or something, maybe-“

Mary didn’t know what to think. Harry’s theory made sense. Steven and Peter had always had a kind of bond, and Steven had cared deeply for his God son. One Thanksgiving, he had gotten drunk and told Norman that having Peter in his life was the only thing that kept him going some days. 

He cherished their days together. 

He loved Peter like a son.

Like a son. It had to be like a son. It just had to be.

*

Mary mulled over what she’d just heard for the next few hours. She’d sent Harry back to his room and asked him not to tell Peter or Harley that she was aware of the cellphone. She needed to make her next move very carefully. It all added up, in a way. Why Peter had become so secretive and protective over his bedroom all those months back, why Steven would suddenly appear the day after Norman had gone on one his rampages, how close he and Peter had become despite not really seeing one another that often. It explained why Peter had become some withdrawn since Christmas. If he’d lost the phone or broken it and didn’t have that lifeline to his god father anymore.

She remembered when Steven had turned up drunk a few nights before he’d died. He’d seemed so lost, so desperate to see Peter, and yet all Peter had done was scream and shout and wished him dead. That was the part that didn’t add up. Deep down, she feared she already knew the answer, she just couldn’t bare to face it. 

A knock-on-the door brought reality right in front of her though. In the form of Richard Parker, sopping wet from the rainstorm outside, clutching a bag to his chest and panting like he’d just run the full length of Manhattan. 

“Richard? Why are you here?” she asked, “Aren’t you mean to be working with Norman right now? Has something happened?”

“Can I come in?” he asked, “Mary, there’s something you need to know.”

“Rich, I really don’t have the time” she replied, “I’m kind of in the middle of something with the boys right now and I need to get my head straight.”

“This is about the boys” he insisted, “You’re going to wanna know about this. You need to know about this.”

Mary rolled her eyes and stepped aside to let Richard in before gently shutting the door behind her. She didn’t need the boys hearing this. 

“Norman’s study” she said quietly, “The boys are upstairs and Abbie’s taking a nap in the living room.”

Richard nodded and led the way into Norman’s private quarters. He slammed the bag he was carrying down on the table and faced her, white as a sheet.

“What’s this about, Rich?” she asked, “Because whatever it is better be important. I’ve just found out that Peter was given a secret cellphone by Skip and-“

“Are you serious?” Richard shot back quickly, looking horrified, “Mary, please tell me you’re not fucking serious.”

“Deadly” she said, “Harry swore to me and my boys never, ever lie to me. Or at least I didn’t think they did…”

“Oh god” Richard wailed as he slumped down in the nearest available chair and looked to be in utter despair, “Shit, Jesus, Fuck-“

“Richard, what’s going on?” she asked.

But she knew. She fucking knew.

It was written all over his face, it was probably written all over hers as well.

“  
“You need to see this” Richard said sadly as he unloaded a file from his bag and slid it over the table towards her, “Or, if you don’t want to look, I can tell you.”

“Tell me” she said with a sniff, “I don’t-I don’t want to read it.”

“OK” Richard sighed, “That’s part of the inquest into Steven Westcott’s death. Norman was given it a few days ago. The reason he’s not been around much in the last week is because he has spent all week trying desperately not to have what I am about to tell you leaked to the media.”

“Just tell me” she begged.

“When conducting their investigation into Steven’s death” Richard carried on, “The police gained access to his laptop, on which they found thousands of images of child pornography and a diary of….a diary of, meetings with young boys.”

She’d known. A part of her knew the second that Harry had told her that that man had given Peter a secret cellphone. But she didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to believe it because Steven had been her dear friend for twenty years and she would have trusted him with her life and the life of her babies. She didn’t want to believe it because she couldn’t bare to face the reality that a man like that had got to her son, and she’d practically opened the door and invited him to do so. Didn’t want to believe it because she didn’t want final, ultimate confirmation that she was the world’s worst mother and had let her boys down in more ways than she could count. 

“FUCK” she shouted, “Fuck! This is-god, this has to be a joke, he can’t-“

“He did” Richard said solemnly, “I wouldn’t suggest looking in that file because it’s all there in black and white, I wish I’d never seen it, but it’s all true. Steven Westcott was a pedophile and he-“

“-He bought my son a secret fucking cellphone” Mary cried, “Oh god, I’m gonna be sick. I-“

“Mary, you need to pull yourself together” Richard snapped, moving across the room, and grabbing Mary by the arm, “I know this is hard but you need to be strong for Peter. For you son. Hell, for all of them” 

“Rich, I-“

“You can do this” he assured her, “You can be strong because you are strong. You are the strongest woman I have ever known and you love those boys to the end of the Earth and back. You know what you need to do now.”

 _Peter_.

She had to get to Peter.

*

Mary watched him sitting at his desk, headphones on, scribbling away at his homework with just his lamp on. Peter Osborne’s Saturday night. Ironically, it was the most peaceful and relaxed she had seen him for months and despite that being what she wanted more than anything, she was about to break him back down all over again. But she had to. Because those walls he’d built up were fake. He would never heal whilst the truth was kept secret. 

She’d never imagined having to have this conversation with one of her sons. Naïve, maybe, but whenever Mary imagined all the difficult talks she feared she would have to have with her boys someday, asking them if they’d been abused like this was never one of them. Taking a deep breath, Mary gently made her way across Peter’s bedroom and tapped him on the shoulder. He jolted slightly but looked relieved when he turned around and noticed that it was her.

“Hey” he said with a smile.

“Hey back” Mary replied, she bent down and stroked his hair, “How’s the homework going, baby?”

“Good” Peter said with a nod, “I don’t know why people say algebra’s hard cos I get it really easily.”

“That’s great, honey” she said, “You’re so clever. It makes me so happy and proud.”

“Thanks!” Peter beamed, “Are you alright, mama? You look upset.”

“I need to ask you something, baby, and it’s not going to be easy but I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me, OK?” she said, Peter nodded but looked scared which didn’t help her desire to simply wrap him up in a blanket and keep him safe in her arms forever, “I need to know if it’s true that your Uncle Skip gave you a cellphone?”

Peter’s eyes widened and he made a move to protest but gave up after the first syllable when Mary put one finger up and gave him a warning glance. 

“Yes” he admitted, “But I got rid of it.”

“Why?” Mary asked again, “You’re not going to be in trouble, Peter. I just need to know the truth because we’ve found out some stuff about your Uncle Skip and I need to make sure that nothing’s happened to you.”

But it had. It had. She knew it had.

“What stuff?” Peter asked quietly.

“Not very nice stuff, baby” she said sadly, “It turns out Uncle Skip was….he wasn’t a nice man, he hurt a lot of other people and I need to ask you baby, did he hurt you? You can tell me. I promise there won’t be any shouting or anything like that because you won’t be in any trouble but baby, you need to tell me the truth.”

Peter’s eyes glistened with tears. He wanted to lie; she could tell. He wanted to do what he normally did and push aside his suffering for the sake of keeping everyone else happy and for the first time in her life, Mary detested the selfless side of her middle child. She wanted to shout and scream and tell him for once in his life to just think of what was best for him, to accept the help she wanted to give him. The help she needed to give him.

And he did.

Without words, all she got was a brief nod, before he collapsed into tears and flung himself into her arms, nearly pushing them both down on the floor.

“Oh baby, my baby” she repeated over and over again as her beautiful 11-year old son cried his heart out on her shoulder. If it was possible to feel every emotion at one time, Mary Osborne was feeling them all in that moment. She was devastated for her son, furious at his scumbag rapist, happy that Peter had taken the first steps to recovery and confused as to how she could have ever been so stupid, so naïve as to let this happen to her kid. “I love you; I love you Peter; I love you so much.”

“I’m sorry” he wailed in her arms as he began to thrash about again, “I’m so sorry Mom. I tried to stop him-I did, I t-told h-h-him that I-oh god, Mommy!”

“I’ve got you baby, I’ve got you” she whispered as she rocked him back and forth like a baby the same way she had done so the day they found out someone had done the world a favor and taken Steven Westcott out of it.

“So tired” Peter cried in her arms, “Mommy, I’m so tired of being sc-scared all the time.”

“You don’t have to be scared anymore, my baby” she said, ignoring the fact the top of his head was now damp with her tears, “Mommy’s here now and she’s going to make everything OK. I promise you; I promise you Peter, you are going to be OK. You’re going to be OK. I love you. Ben and May love you. Your brothers and your baby sister and all your friends love you so much, sweetheart. Things will get better now, you’ll see.”

Peter looked up at her, all longing and hopeful.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really” she said with a nod, “ _You with the sad eyes_ …”. Peter hummed as she started singing, half way through they moved on to his bed and within ten minutes, he slept tucked safely in her side. It was only then she looked at Peter’s doorway to find Harry and Harley standing hand in hand, both looking utterly shattered.

Her boys. Her poor, poor boys. She had failed them so badly. With all the strength she could muster, Mary gestured for them to come in, and both did eagerly.

“Peter-“

“Needs rest honey” Mary told Harry who looked angrier than she had possibly ever seen anyone look, “We can talk this out in the morning, but right now, he needs to sleep. The next few days are going to be really hard on him so we need to make sure he gets all the rest he can, OK?”

Both boys nodded. Harley clambered on to the bed and kissed Peter’s forehead and Mary knew what she needed to do next. What she needed to do most was drive somewhere and scream into the fucking night sky. What she needed to do next, however, was let her other two boys know they were deeply loved as well.

“Are Ben and May here?” she asked Harry.

“Yeah, they’re downstairs with Abbie” Harry replied, “Uncle Rich called them like you asked but then he left when they arrived. I don’t know why.”

“Probably for the best” Mary sighed, “This is family time.”

Harry nodded and inched a little closer to her, taking her hand. Mary squeezed it before turning her attention back to Harley and took his far too thin frame in her free arm and hugged him tight.

“Oh my sweet baby angel” she sighed, “Harley, baby, I wish you knew how beautiful you are. I wish you saw in the mirror what the rest of us see every time that we look at you. I wish I could just make you realize that you’re perfect, that you never needed to change a thing about yourself. You light up my life, sweetheart, you make a bad day good. You’re so sweet and kind and loving and you make everything seem like the most exciting thing in the world and I wish you saw that inside yourself-“

“Momma” Harley whimpered, “Stop.”

“I will never stop letting you know how special you are” she told him, “And I need you be all those things for Peter now. Mommy needs to clear her head for a little while so I need you to stay in here with Peter and make sure he gets all the cuddles he needs, OK, because he’s going to need a lot. Can you do that for me, honey?”

Harley nodded and kissed his mother on the cheek before climbing out of her arms and cuddling up next to Peter under his covers. Mary leaned down and kissed Peter one last time on the forehead before tucking them both in as Harley wrapped a protective arm across Peter’s stomach, causing his older brother to happily mutter his name as he slept. Harley emitted a proud little giggle as he snuggled in and slowly drifted off. Mary stayed watching them until they were both asleep before turning around and focusing back on Harry, who was still routed to the spot, looking furious. 

“Walk with me, Harry” she said sweetly, taking his hand, relieved when he came with her without much of a fight, “I know that you’re angry and that’s completely fine. Believe me, I am too. But don’t let your anger define you, sweetheart. Being angry is not what makes you who you are and who you are is someone truly wonderful-“

“You don’t need to do this” Harry muttered as they began to descend the stairs.

“Yes, I do” she told him, “Harry, I couldn’t be prouder of the man you are becoming if I tried. Your sense of responsibility, your compassion, the fact you always tell the truth and do the right thing even when it’s uncomfortable, like today, makes me so proud. I know that your brothers are the most important thing in the world to you-“

“No, you are” he stopped dead in his tracks as he said it, “You’re the most important person to me in the world, Mom. I know I don’t say it enough and that I don’t hug as much as I used to but I-I-you’re my everything. We’d be so lost without you. You’re the best Mom we could ever ask for and I don’t want you to think that you’re not just because of what that rat bastard did to Peter. I’m glad he’s dead. I’m glad someone killed him, I hope he suffered and that he died screaming…..and I’m not even sorry I think that.”

Mary nodded at him. That was pretty much the exact definition of Harry letting his anger define him but damn it if he hadn’t hit the nail on the head. Whoever killed Steven Westcott deserved a medal not a lifetime in prison. 

“Look after them, for me, tonight?” she asked her eldest, “You can be angry tomorrow. You can go out with Ben and punch as many things as you want, chop down some tress, scream into the void, but I need you to stay with your brothers tonight. Keep them safe. Make sure they know they’re loved; can you do that for me?”

Harry nodded and Mary leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. 

“I love you, mama” he said quietly.

“I love you too, my little prince” she replied, smiling like an idiot to herself as she watched him climb back up the stairs and head back towards Peter’s room, giving her a quick wave as she shut the door behind him.

The boys were all out of the way now, and Mary needed to crumble, but there was one more thing she needed to do before she could leave.

Ben and May Parker were both seated in her living room, May holding a sleeping Abbie in her arms whilst Ben looked at the fireplace with great intensity, one arm on his wife’s shoulder as she cooed to the baby in hers. Mary knew just from looking at the back of their heads as she entered that they already knew the full extent of what had happened to Peter. 

“Mary” May said softly as she saw her best friend. She quickly passed Abbie over to Ben before standing up and coming to hug her, “My god, I can’t believe it. I-“

“I know” Mary choked out a reply, “Listen, I know it was your guys’ date night and-“

“That doesn’t matter, not when it’s the boys” May replied, “I don’t even know what to say, we’d known him such a long time, I never thought-“

“I never want to talk or hear about him again” Mary said harshly, but she knew that May wouldn’t take it as a slight on her, “I think about him and I feel sick to my stomach. This is all my fault-“

“No, it’s not” Ben snapped, “It’s no one’s fault but his. He was a slimy, dirty, pedophile rapist and the world is better off without him.”

And wasn’t that just testament enough. If Ben Parker thinks the world is better off without you, then what a piece of shit you must have been.

“I need to get out for a while” she told him, “I need to just drive and drive until I can find somewhere to just scream and shout and let it all out. I don’t want anyone near me, I just need to get out everything and then come home to my babies and keep them safe for the rest of their lives.”

“You’re not driving alone” May told her, “I won’t allow it Mary. Not in this weather and not when you’re in this kind of emotional state. Your boys need you and they’re not going to have you if you run yourself off of a road, are they?”

“No” Mary shook her head, “No, I guess not.”

“I’ll drive” Ben offered, “May can stay here with the kids. If you can’t be around then she’s the next best person for them.”

Ben slowly passed Abbie over to Mary before heading to collect his coat, Mary’s coat, and his car keys. 

“Hey baby girl” Mary cooed as she looked down at her baby daughter, “Hey, Mommy’s gotta leave for a little while, but she’ll be back soon and then we’re going to go on a big new adventure. Just me and you and your big brothers. Isn’t that great? Momma loves you baby girl; Momma loves you so much.”

“You’re so strong, you know” May told her as Mary passed Abbie back to her, “All these years later and you are still the strongest, bravest, most badass woman I have ever met. You’ll get through this and you’ll get those gorgeous boys of yours through this. I don’t doubt that for one single second.”

“Thank you” Mary sighed as Ben re-entered the room, “Promise me that you’ll go and sit with my boys upstairs and make sure they’re safe? And take this little one with you? All my babies, safe and sound, in one room together.”

“I promise” May replied with a smile before kissing Mary on the cheek and slowly making her way upstairs with Abbie. 

“Ready?” Ben asked as he passed Mary her coat.

“As I’ll ever be” she sighed as she took it.

*

The drive was quiet. Mary didn’t really pay any attention to the road or what direction Ben was driving her in. Her mind was still racing. There was still so much she needed to know about what had happened to Peter. When had it happened? Where? How had she missed it, she guessed it could have happened whilst she was in hospital with Abbie. Did anyone else know? Surely not, they would have told her. Why was Norman trying to keep the truth about Steven secret from the media? Was he worried about his own image, was it some twisted devotion to the only friend he’d ever really had or was their something more sinister at stake in all of this?

“We’re here” Ben said darkly about half an hour later. Mary blinked. They were in Queens. 

“Why’re we here?” she asked him.

“Dunno, just ended up here” he replied, “This is-“

“Where he’s buried” Mary finished the sentence from him. “All those flowers by his grave, he doesn’t deserve them.”

“Maybe I wanted to give you the chance to confront him” Ben sighed, “This seemed like the easiest way. Screaming into the void is a band aid solution Mary, believe me, you can never know true peace until you’ve said what you need to say to the person who’s hurt you only…only you’ve been robbed off that chance.”

Mary nodded. 

“You’ll stay here?” she asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Ben nodded. 

“Unless you need me” he replied. Mary gave him a weak smile before climbing out of the car and beginning the walk up to where Skip had been buried just over a month before. It was near torrential rain but Mary could not bring herself to care about how wet or cold she got, sheer anger and adrenaline were going to see her through this one.

She arrived at Steven’s grave.

There were still flowers from the funeral dotted around. The headstone that Mary and Norman had paid for shone against the night sky with its gold inscriptions of the time in which Steven had plagued the earth with his pitiful existence. 

“You bastard” she found herself spitting at his grave, “You nothing. You never were much of anything, were you Steven? Always the great pretender. Nothing about you. Nothing whole, no one ever stayed did they, except me and Norman? And why was that, eh? Cos you were useful to Norman and I felt sorry for you. It was never about you….and maybe you knew that, and maybe that’s why you did what you did to my boy.”

The anger was building up inside of her at every word, equaling the now present thunder as it built in her chest.

“Why, Steven? Why?” she snarled, “Why Peter? Why take advantage of that sweet, innocent, trusting little boy. He’s just a baby and you’ve ruined his whole life and for what? For what? I’m glad you’re dead but fuck I wish you weren’t just for two minutes so I could kill you all over again you evil fucking bastard. You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve any of this!”

She knelt down and pulled and ripped and tore apart the flowers that littered his grave. She wiped mud from the ground over his name and eventually, Mary’s knees gave out beneath her and she was sobbing in the cold, wet, muddy ground. 

“I hate you” she told the gravestone, “You’re nothing. And now you’re dead and once I’ve made sure that the world knows exactly what you are, all anyone will ever say about Steven James Westcott was it was better he had never lived at all. What a proud legacy to leave behind, eh? And you know what, my boy is better than you. He is so much better than you that you wouldn’t even be able to comprehend it and he is going to bounce back from this and make a life he can proud of. By the time he’s 21, I’m going to make sure that you’re nothing but an ugly little footnote in his life. That’s your legacy, that’s what you leave behind, and even that’s too much for you.”

And then she screamed.

She didn’t really know how long for or how loudly she’d done it, but Mary Osborne sat in the mud of a Queens graveyard, screaming into the night sky until the point where she was soaked to the bone through her trousers.

Then, the tears came. 

Mary had shed a lot of tears in her life, all of them out of sadness. Never out of anger. But these were angry tears. She had never been angrier her whole life. It was only once they abated then Mary realized Ben Parker was standing behind her. 

“I asked you to stay in the car” she told him.

“Couldn’t quite manage it” he replied, “I was worried about you.”

“Don’t be” she breathed back, “Worry about Peter, worry about my other kids, worry about yourself and May, don’t worry about me. I’ve done what I needed to do, and now I can focus on what’s important. Making sure my babies never suffer through another day of pain in their lives.”

“I can worry about them and you at the same time” Ben sighed, he knelt down next to her and offered her a hand up. She took him. “Even this is too much for him. The world should know what he was.”

“And they will” Mary replied, “Even if I have to fight Norman every step of the way to do so. Why is he keeping all this quiet anyway, d’you know?”

Ben’s face paled a little. He did know. Mary laughed.

“I-“

“You knew, didn’t you?” she asked, “You knew and Norman knew. How-how long have you known? How long have you known Ben?”

“Mary, I-“

“I thought I could trust you” she cried, “You’re meant to be the one man in my stupid godforsaken life who’s meant to be worth a damn, so why the hell would you keep something like this from me? Why the hell would Nor…..man, oh my god. It was him, wasn’t it?”

“What was?” Ben asked.

“It was him, it was Norman” Mary breathed, “He’s the one who killed Skip. Which means, no, which means he’s know about what happened to Peter all this time and he hasn’t said a word about it? And you knew as well.”

“Mary, please-“

“Get off me, Ben-“

“It’s not what you think.”

“SO TELL ME THEN!” she cried, “Tell me because I am living through every mother’s worst nightmare right now and I do not have the time, the energy or the fucking patience to deal with my bullshit husband, his bullshit cronies and his bullshit reasons for keeping quiet about my son’s rape!”

“The reason….the reason that Norman and me…the reason we knew” Ben said slowly, tears pouring down his face, “The reason that Norman is trying to keep the truth about Skip quiet is because he’s trying to protect me-“

“You?”

“And I don’t want him to!” Ben shouted, “I don’t want him to. I said I’d take my punishment, that the courts would be lenient if they knew what Skip had done and why I did what I did, but he wouldn’t have it. He said he owed me.”

“Owed you? Owed you for what, Ben?!”

“He said he owed me for killing the man who raped his son. It was me, Mary. I killed Skip.” 

*

**Author's Note:**

> aaannndd its another cliffhanger.
> 
> Ben's up next! 
> 
> The engagement for the last chapter blew my mind by the way! It made me so happy and I enjoy answering your comments so much. Please, please, please keep it up. I feel like this series is really on a roll now and I can't wait to write the next instalment. Due to their length and heavy nature, however, I'd get used to waiting between 10-15 days for updates from here on out. Shits about to get real and I don't want to risk ruining anything by rushing. Let's aim for June 1st for the next chapter. If it's any later than that, then you may yell at me haha. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter,  
> please leave a comment down below with your thoughts,  
> stay safe,  
> lots of love,  
> Jamie


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